Navy ROTC Students Test the Waters Overseas

Published: August 08, 2008

On a U.S. Navy mine hunter ship in the South China Sea, University of
Tampa senior Andrew Learned watched as the ship’s crew lowered a remote
operated vehicle (ROV) armed with explosives into the water. As the
robotic device was driven into the depths, Learned heard a countdown,
“5-4-3-2-1,” followed by an explosion that set the sea rocking.

The
mission was a Navy training exercise on the removal of sea mines. It
was one of the many stops Learned made this summer as one of two UT
students taking part in a foreign exchange program through the Navy
ROTC.

UT’s Navy ROTC, which is a partnership with the University
of South Florida, gave Learned the opportunity to spend a month in
Singapore, while fellow senior Maria Vasquez spent several weeks in the
United Kingdom.

Learned acted as a liaison to the Singapore
Navy, exchanging information and building relationships with the allied
country’s military.

“It was a show-and-tell type of thing,”
Learned said. “On most days in the morning, they take us to different
ships and we are considered a guest of the ship. We learn about their
Navy and they learn about ours.”

Learned was hand picked for the
trip from a pool of Navy ROTC students from across the nation to serve
on the one-month cruise. While he didn’t specifically apply to go to
Singapore, his prior studies of the Chinese language and East Asian
politics likely influenced the selection, he said.

His trip also
included meetings with the Navy’s defense attaché as well as meals with
Singapore’s naval ship captains and various exercises in seamanship
training. He was also on hand for the towing of different ships through
the Strait of Malacca, a waterway through which much of the world’s oil
supply is transported.

For Vasquez, the base of her overseas
journey was in Plymouth, England, where she worked with the British
Royal Navy. Her journey included nearly a week that was spent at sea
assisting with ship inspections as well as the test of a maritime
anti-missile system dubbed “Sea Wolf.”

“I thought that foreign
navies would be a lot different from ours, but there is a lot of similar
technology,” Vasquez said. “Obviously our Navy is different because we
put a lot more of our budget into it, but it’s interesting to compare
the different cultures.”

Her time in the U.K. also included
numerous training exercises. One such exercise simulated a rescue
mission in which a sailor was thrown overboard.

Elsewhere, she
worked with an aviation crew to assist with the take-off and landing of
helicopters. The trip also included a visit with Britain’s Prince
William, who serves in the Royal Navy.

The experience served as a
complement the students’ academics; both are pursuing degrees in
government and world affairs. Classified as midshipmen, Learned and
Vasquez will qualify to be commissioned officers in the Navy upon
graduation.

“The ROTC program was the reason I went to UT,” Learned said. “It’s actually a very good deal for UT students.”